Viewing Report of MSBA Library Committee (1905).

At the annual convention of the Minnesota State Bar Association in 1905, the Library Committee submitted a report and recommendations about the State Library. It noted that the library held about 48,000 books, and that it was increasing its holdings of "statutes and reports of all civilized countries." This was important because the state had adopted foreign laws--as for example, the form of ballot and the Torrens system of land registration from Australia. Following the pleas of the state librarian, the Committee recommended that he be appointed to an indefinite term by the supreme court rather than two years by the governor, and that two additional assistant librarians be hired.

Two years earlier, the legislature enacted a law making many changes to the State Library, and these were noted in the report. The annual appropriation for the purchase of books increased from $2,000 to $4,000. While the legislature authorized the librarian and the justices to buy books "as they may deem best," it also mandated very specific duties of the librarian--as for example, that he maintain a ledger of acquisitions by the library, including a "list of the books lost" during the past year.